On This Day, 3rd November: The Bomber Gerd Muller was born; Relive his legendary career

Has there ever been a better poacher in the history of world football than Gerd Muller? Simply, no. No one in the history of the game has been more lethal in the box, especially the six-yard area more than Der Bomber. Muller was born on 3rd November 1945, in Nördlingen, Germany. He began his career at TSV 1861 Nördlingen before earning a move to Bayern Munich in 1964. Along with Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier, he would establish Bayern Munich as the most dominant force in European and German football for the decade. He would also form the core of the highly successful German squad which won the 1972 Euros and 1974 World Cup.

Muller would end up becoming the most prolific goalscorer in German football and Bayern Munich’s history, amassing an astonishing 398 goals in 453 appearances. He would win all major honours at the German giants, winning the German Championship four times, the DFB-Pokal four times, the European Champions’ Cup three times, the Intercontinental Cup once, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once. He would end his career in the United States with Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1981.

Muller would also establish himself as arguably Germany’s greatest player of all time. If not the greatest, he certainly was the most important player in Germany’s most successful phase. He would play starring roles in Germany’s 1972 Euros and 1974 World Cup triumphs. He would retire with an astounding goal scoring ratio, scoring 62 goals in 68 games in his international career.

As a player, Muller wasn’t blessed with particularly impressive skills but he had unmatched anticipation and no one snapped half chances better than him. He was particularly lethal in the six-yard area, scoring goals for fun. He thrived on his deadly instinct, becoming one of the greatest pure goal scorers the game has ever seen.